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Thursday, July 26, 2007

Note about next B&G Gettysburg issue

A preview (well, the TOC anyway) of Blue and Gray Magazine's annual special Gettysburg issue has been posted on the publication's website [I wish I lived in a world that would accept an annual Pea Ridge special issue]. While this event normally passes me by with little interest, I did note the inclusion of the long awaited discussion article (pages 47-50) about the Farnsworth's Charge controversy. Last year, Andie Custer wrote an article that turns the traditional interpretation on its head -- a conclusion that is vigorously challenged by historians and others that have heavily researched the event. Here, Eric Wittenberg and J.D. Petruzzi respond to Custer's findings. I look forward to a lively (and hopefully civil) discussion among the three.

I guess I am expecting it to be an instructive expose, at least of one part of the proliferation of published pet theories emanating from this particular battle. They can superficially appear to be well documented (like this one dealing with Farnsworth's Charge) and others can garner awards [see the 2005 winner, here, of the Richard Barksdale Harwell Book Award].

[Add. 7/29/07 - Well, it turns out it won't be what I was hoping for or expecting. See comment below from one of the rebuttal authors, and full text here.]

Eric,That isn't much space. I would like to see Dave post your full length rebuttal on the "Download Supplements" page of the B&G website. The context would be appropriate as there is already a rebuttal to the flag article from a while back posted there.

Hi Jim,It's been long enough that my memory fails me on it, so I couldn't begin to give you anything useful about it. IIRC, it had something to do with a battle flag controversy between friendly units.